Does anyone use a gun vise, like those from Tipton or MTM? If so what are the pros and cons and which would you recommend? Thanks.

Hi Steve,
I've had the Tipton for several years and am happy with it. I looked at the MTM on Google before commenting and it looks very nice, also. Looked like the MTM was more costly. At the same price, I might try the MTM but have no reason to need another one. There are lots of Tiptons on e-bay. E-bay shippers seem high. Midsouth is usually a good place to buy.

A Tipton was the first gun vise I bought and for years it was my only one. I now have two bench mounted ones, a copy of Brownells multi vise and a patternmakers vise. (Come to think of it I have an original Bisley somewhere too, portable.)

The Tipton is OK for simple stuff, cleaning, and messing with sights, I mounted many scopes with it.

But that's it, it doesn't hold sturdy enough to do any real work. I even epoxied about 10 lbs of lead shot into the base of mine and it still moves around. Scope work is usually straight down so it wouldn't move much but any work that requires horizontal force will shift the setup. It doesn't hold as well when the gun is placed upside down as right side up. I found I was often picking up the whole setup and turning it around.

Woodworkers Supply has the copy of the $250 Brownells vise for about $60. Might need some tweaking but a good deal. And yes, it's made in China

Parrot Vise

I should have mentioned that I will be using it primarily to clean doubles and the occasional (dare I say) auto. Right now I am padding the barrels with towels and clamping them to the bench with a wood working clamp. (The top of my bench is covered with an anti-fatigue mat) This seems to work ok, but I am progressing in my work and would hate like Hades to screw somthing up because it wasn't secured completly.

Thanks again!

Steve:

Although I have a homemade version of the Tipton (two bootjacks on a board), I clean doublegun (vertical and horizontal) barrels with steel wool under power on a brush with the barrels removed from gun. I have found that a simple U-channel constructed of 3/4" plywood and covered with jigging felt or carpet on the three sides of the U pads the barrels and prevents them flipping sideways from the torquing effect of the powered brush. Although not really necessary, if you want to clamp or screw the channel down make the bottom of the U wide enuf to create flanges alongside the upright legs. Made the base of mine 4"X30"; the two upright legs 1 3/4"X30"; the space between before adding 1/4" jigging felt 1 1/2". I also have one which has a considerably wider trough (intended for horizontal barrelsets) which does not work well because the barrels are not restrained against flipping. So I use the one I made for o/u barrels for both types.

jack

Might be OK but I assume when cleaning these barrels you'll be removing them from the reciever? If you do then the Tipton will have nothing to hold on to since it clamps on the stock. Also the breech end block on a tipton will not hold a set of double barrels well. I still think you'd be better with a bench vise and some blocks to hold the barrels. I clean double barrels by putting the breech hook in a vise between two sheets of lead.

The Tipton is better at cleaning bolt actions. And it's portable.

Steve:

You might also consider just making the "bootjack" type cradle with leather-covered Vee cuts in the uprights. Wedged is as good as clamped in my opinion.

jack

Dittos on Rabbit and Robbit's suggestions as to actual cleaning of SxS or singles. I clean all my shotgun barrels like Jack described and clamp the underlugs in a regular bench vice. For padding, I have two pieces of aluminum angle, with adhesive magnetic strips inside the top angle. This holds the angles to the vise jaws. Clamp the under lug between them and drill away. For barrels without flat underlugs, I have two wooden pads with half-round grooves. This will hold a single repeater barrel or SxS barrels. On SxS barrels I feel better about clamping them by the under lugs. Very slight worry that clamping them the other way could flex them enough to loosen solder. Not likely, but I feel better using the lugs. As to the Tipton type moving around, mine is usually clamped in a Black & Decker Work-mate.

Recoil Rob Check out http://www.grizzly.com for parrot vice Item #H3302
39.95 same vice offered by woodworkers supply

Jim H

You can't beat the Parrot for price, quality, and approachability standing upright with your head on strait. I've got an ancient Emmert on a heavy oak bench which is useful in the same way but you'd have to move the decimal pt. to buy that one now. I traded a rare Stanley rabbet scraper (basically a bench plane) for one nearly 30 yrs. ago. I can't even remember the number on the scraper now but it sure seemed important at the time. Even a metalworker's steel, or carpenter's wood leg vise can be very useful with various custom jaws and pads.

jack

Where were you last February, Jim?

Woodworkers has a store near me so I didn't have to pay shipping

I have had one of the Versa Vices, looks just like the Parrot vise. Had it since middle 60's. I drilled and tapped the vise so it does not swivel when I want it solid. I have used it with wood inserts and heavy padding. Made lots of stocks using that vise and I would not want any other for the various uses on holding guns or stocks. When I want more workspace, I simply take it off the base.

Lenard

Jees, years ago I had photos of my garage vise posted here, and I simply can't find the file anymore. But, it is a Wilton 500 machinists vise, (about 80 lbs, if I remember corectly) bolted to a 4 1/2 ft section of 8"X 3/8ths 4140 drawn-over-mandrel (seamless) hydraulic tubing, that would have been used for builting a big hydraulic ram. I welded flanges on both ends to bolt the vise to the ram tube, and the ram tube to the floor, and filled it with about 150 lbs of spent shot, bought at my local range. This makes the whole unit "dead blow". I have, on occasion, mounted a scope with a set of Wilton soft padded aluminum jaws, pressed a U-joint, bent a section of pipe around it, or knocked a tie rod of a center link with it.
You simply can't have too much vise, although there are still two little Red Devils mounted to my bench, simply because it is sometimes nice to have more than one.
If there are good deals on the Wiltons, I haven't found them-mine was $300 about a decade ago. I attended auctions for a year, hoping to score one used, but, they sell for damn near new prices, so I bought one new. The jaws are about 5 inches wide, and it must open to 9 or 10 inches.
Best,
Ted

Sounds like my garage vise Ted. Years ago when my fathers business was moving (we fabricated tools and supplies for pre-stressing concrete) I got the bench vise, a Yost 44, 4" jaws and an 8" throat. I just have mine bolted to the corner of the bench, over one of the 4x4 legs. But when somethings too big for the ones on the gun bench, out to the garage we go.

I understand you have a flange at the base but how is it mounted to the floor? Are there bolt bedded into the floor?

Thanks, Rob

The Bisley vice was designed with the double shotgun in mind. They easily tilt in (about) 15 degree increments. Large padded jaws, coupled with the hand wheel make it difficult to accidently damage a gun by over tightening. The Bisley repro is available from Germany. I read somewhere that the reproduction Bisley vices are made of aluminum. If you work on doubles, my suggestion is, if you can afford two, buy two, as they work even better as a pair. They remove quickly... I almost never use my Versa-Vice unless I'm working on a small metal part.

I would reccomend a Cauldwell lead sled. It works fine as a gun vise and works great for shooting rifles off a bench. I have used it for patternng heavy loads as well. It takes a .458 down to about .308 for recoil. A .308 feels like a .222.

The Bisley is nice but at $250 hardly beats the Parrot.
http://www.bisleyvise.com/Pictures/green-cork-up.jpg

Rob,
Therein lies another story. When I was building the mount, I welded a flange that mated to the vise without it's rotating base installed. At the bottom, I mounted a flange that had 10 holes in a circle that had been tapped for 3/4 inch fine thread bolts-this flange matched exactly a flange welded to another section of hydraulic tubing that had a precision fit pin located in the center, which would give the ability to swing the vise complete with it's mount, yet, eliminate the rotating base on the vise, which, wasn't really up to the duty spec I was looking for. That was going to be mounted in the concrete in the floor of the shop-I planned on tying the structure into the existing concrete, and pouring new around it.
Well, I needed the thing before I had a hole in the shop floor and a final plan for tying it into the concrete, so the shop foreman where I worked gave me some concrete anchors that they use for keeping pallet racking, and printing equipment from moving around on concrete-they have smashed fully loaded fork lifts into them, and never torn one out. Which, is how it is mounted to this day. They look like a bolt with a threaded wedge in the bottom, and are hammered in a hole in the concrete, which leaves a threaded section out of the concrete, which a nut goes onto, pulling the wedge up into the concrete, and bolting the thing down to the floor. Much simpler than what I had planned, and I've never had the need to swing the vise anyway, a good thing, since it is now rigid to the floor.
The Wilton machinists vises are about the best-the vise bar is round, with a straight pull nut, and a keyway machined into the bottom of the bar, that eliminates side to side play on the movable jaw. Lifetime lubed and sealed, to keep crud out of the works, and a meaty anvil. Still made in USA, but, I don't know how long that will last.
Best,
Ted

I just took a look at them on line and see that only three of their lines is still made here, all round bar. Nice piece of work though, I'll have to keep my eye out for one at the local sales.

The Yost is a standard vise, made in Holland, MI and the price was right.

Found this thread while googling vises, these guys are into it!

I'll show you mine if you.....